n. a relationship or friendship that you can’t get out of your head, which you thought had faded long ago but is still somehow alive and unfinished, like an abandoned campsite whose smoldering embers still have the power to start a forest fire.

n. the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore—that although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don’t understand, that don’t even seem to belong in the same genre.

Intoxicated
Heavily sedated
On the elixir of death
Groggy eyes, wobbly legs
A sinking feeling
Fumbling, freewheeling
My soul has grown wings
Soaring hundreds of feet high
Away from the hue and cry
Don’t nudge me
Don’t you dare judge me
Don’t deny
Me of my pleasure
Of being in this never -never land
Sobriety will transport me to reality
Will rob me of my quixotic daydreams
Cheers!
Here’s to me and my pathetic existence
Falling apart at the seams

A message for everyone:

Alcohol is not the solution to your problems.

Rethink
Your third drink
Life can be snatched away in a wink
Allow life to thrive
Don’t drink and drive
You booze, you cruise, you lose

This poem is dedicated to the youth of my nation struggling to cope up with parental pressure. Our education system is more like a “degree” based system where imparting knowledge is secondary to overflowing wallets.

A friend of mine (Nancy, for those of you who’ve heard me talk about her so many times) is in a long distance relationship since THREE YEARS !

Hats off to people who’ve the patience to pull it off. :)

We haven’t come out completely unscathed
From days of deafening silence
Explicit confessions
Petulant mood
Misconceptions
Quibbles over
Differing perceptions
Lack of faith and
Doubting intentions

But your words still ring in my head
You’d once said
“We’re in this together
You’re not alone”
And we’ve come so far
It’s a feat in its own

The ordeal isn’t over yet
There are countless days to endure
Finding solace in your unfailing love
I’m content and secure

You’re a thousand miles away
And I know I’m easily swayed
But when you’ll be finally here
Time will slow down
As I’ll lovingly gaze into your eyes
Deep rich brown
Crinkling when you smile
Quipping in jest,
Oh your humor is so puerile
Charmed by your aura of mystique
All words forgotten
Spoken in a fit of pique

He said
Tie up that loosely swinging lace
Or you’d fall flat on your face
Buckle up little soldier
For a march of our own
With synchronized steps
Shoulder to shoulder
Cross the road yourself today
C’mon now, be a bit bolder

Watch out for the vehicles
He’d chide
Walk on the right side
Lengthen your stride
But his words would fall on deaf ears
And when I’d start to pant
He’d slow down to my pace
With a whimsical grin on his face
He’d tease me all the way home
And call me a sloth, a wise cracking gnome

He called it “bonding time”
A time we’d walk routinely
On our customary routes
Sometimes having momentous conversations
Other times mimicking people, in cahoots

He’d entertain and enlighten
With stories and childhood shenanigans galore
My witty walking partner
His playful personality keeps me in stitches
Time will fly and our walks would cease altogether
But I’ll always cherish
These walks with my father

I see, you’ve returned
From your voyage
Around the world
Sedate and comically sunburned

Lo and behold
It’s your birthday
Showered with love
Postcards sent all the way
To your doorway
From a girl in every port
Who’d been at your beck and call
From fleeting courtships
On the verge of fizzling out
When they finally figured
You weren’t such a knock-out

Oh, you expected me to wish
How could you be so foolish?
Hoping you’d show up and be forgiven
That after all this time,
I’d still be love-stricken

Anyway, A very Happy Birthday to the lying
Cheating rogue
You’re one day closer to dying
I forsake you, rot in hell
Goodbye scoundrel, fare the well

As they bid adieu
With grave morose faces
A heavy brooding silence descended on them
Mourning the loss of time
Spent battling, sabotaging lives
Feigning indifference
Maintaining a hollow pretense
Having fun at one another’s expense

The struggle between a proud mind
And an empty heart
Conning each other, trying to outsmart
Had lead nowhere
It had only widened the void
Craving to be filled with sisterly love and care

As they huddled closer
Reminiscing the carefree and joyful days
Overwhelmed and nostalgic
They tore down the wall that had built between them
Brick by brick

Alas, it was time to leave
It would’ve taken only an apology
To relieve
Her of her misery
But none had taken the first step
Scared of the implication
So she had and boy, she was glad

Had they done so
She would’ve forgiven them
In a heartbeat
Now all she’ll remember would be
A hasty hug and a mumbled goodbye
For in this lifetime
They’d never meet

Perched on his bike
His shoulders sagged
His head bent
Peering at the ground
Oblivious to the gaiety around

Took a valiant effort to pass by
On impulse she looked back
Their eyes locked
She stopped in her track
In his hand he held a half-empty cigarette pack
He smiled his trademark smile
Wry and a bit sly
One that made women go weak in their knees
On her it seemed futile

Her face grew solemn
As he approached her
Willful ignorance and fatalism
Had all been in vain
Fate had ordained their meeting
Here was her chance to explain

He stood still, searching her eyes
A pregnant pause lingered in the air
Recalling the distress her sudden disappearance had caused
His questioning gaze turned into a glare

She refused to meet his eyes
And spoke the words she had rehearsed for days
Unburdening the weight on her heart
She felt they had drifted in divergent pathways

With nothing left to say
And one last look
She did what she’d done before
. . . Slowly walked away

My granny is a hale and hearty old lady with good moral principles and a cute pudgy face, making it impossible not to pull her cheeks. She always has everyone’s best interests at heart and is my ultimate support system. Our every phone conversation ends with a brief lesson about life in general and the adversities one may face. Also with I love you’s, of course. Here’s a little insight into those few last minutes. It may seem preachy to many, but to me these are the words I’ll cherish after she’s gone.